Process of recovering quicksilver from its ores



H. W. GOULD. Pnoc'iss 0F REGUVERlNG Q'UICKSiLVER FROM ns ORES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 3\19lT.

'PatentedSept. 9, 1919.

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HENRY W. GOULD, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

PROCESS OF RECOVERING QUICKSILVER FROM rrs onus;

Application filed December 3, 1917. Serial No. 205,059.

To all en/tom z't mag concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY W. GOULD, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of the city and county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented a certain new and useful Process of RecoveringQuicle silver from Its Ores, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a process of condensing the quicksilver vaporliberated from the ore in a furnace and collecting the c0ndoused metal.a I

An objectof the invention is to provide a process for condensing thequicksilver vapor into acoalescent mass of quicksilver.

The invention possesses other advantageous features, some off-which,withthe fore going, will be set forth at length in the followingdescriptioin' where I shall outline in full the process of my inventionand that form of apparatus for carrying out the procwhich I "haveselected for illustration in the drawings accompanving and forming partof the present specification. In said drawings T have shown two specificforms of the apparatus of my invention, but it is to be understood thatI donot limit myself to any specific imparatus.

Referring to said drawings:

Figure 1. a side elevation of one form the a 'uniratus of my invention,part thereof being broken away to reduce the size of the figure.

Fig. 2 is a plan or, top view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of aportion of a modified form of apparatus.

llerctoforc, as far as I am aware, the quicle silver vapor from theroasting furnace has been conducted to a series of large condensin gchambers, usually made of brick, wherein the quicksilver condensed. inrelatively small part iclcs which did not coalesce, that fur thcrtreatment of the condensed mass was neccssarv. Quicksilver ore usuallycontains sulfur, which is converted into sulfuric acid.

in the roasting process and this acid coats the small quicksilverparticles when (:OIIClGllsation' occurs and deters the coalescence ofthe particles. The products of combustion from the furnace are.connningled with the vapor and deposited iii the condensing chainbcrswith the qpicksilver forming a sooty In accordancewith the process of myin vention the quicksilver vapor, or a large Specification of LettersPatent.

. the closed tank 8.

Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

proportion of it, is condensed and precipitated in coalescent formbefore the condensing chamber is reached. This is accomplished byflowing the vapor, gases and other products discharged from the furnace,of air into the conduit in the direction of the streamv therein. Theintrodnction of the air causes a condensation and precipitation of thequicksilver vapor and by directing the air in. the same direction ,asthe gas stream, thefurnace draft is increased and other materials, suchas soot, in the gas stream, are

prevented from precipitating and mixing with the. condensed quicksilver.The con doused quicksilver coalesces and the conduit is preferablyinclined so that the quicksilver runs from the conduit and is collected.

The quicksilver ore is roasted in any suitable furnace 3 and theproducts of roasting and combustion pass from the furnace into thechamber 4. From the upper part of the chamber 4 the gases and vaporspass through the downwardlvdnclined conduit 5 into the bottom of thechamber 6. Fronithc chamher 6, the gases and 'vapors pass into theinclined conduit 7, preferably formed of terracotta or tile pipe, whichopens at its end into The conduit 7 relatively long and ma in Fig. 1 ordownward. as shown in Fig. 3.

Extending into the conduit 7, preferably adjacent the chamber 6, is anair pipe 9, which directs a stream of air into the conduit in the samedirection as the gases flowing therein. Air under pressure is suppliedto the pipe 9 by a blower 12 or other device. The air causes acondensation of the quicksilver vapor in the conduit 7, whichprecipitates and flows from the conduit into the chamber Gin theconstruction shown in Fig. 1 and into the tank 8, in the constructionshown in Fig. 3. The lighter vapors and soot, passing through theconduit 7, are carried along and prevented from precipitae through aconduit and introducing a stream slope, upward, as shown ing by thedraft througl'i the conduit, so that through a series of tanks 8, i3, 14and thence the successive tanks being to thestaok 15, f preferablyarranged at successively h1ghcr levels, to assist the stack in producingthe res required draft. Soot, sulfuric acid and quicksilver aredeposited in the successive tanks, some of the quicksilver coalescingand settling to the bottom and some of it remaining in small particlesin the mass of soot. The tanks are preferably provided with slopingbottoms so that the quicksilver which coalesces therein maybe drawn off.

The sooty mass is removed and treated to recover the quicksilvertherein. The larger portion of the quicksilver, however, is precipitatedin the conduit by the admission of the air stream and flows from theconduit in coalescent form;

I claim: 7

The process. of recovering quicksilver from its ore, which consists inroasting the ore in a furnace to produce quicksilver vapor, passing thefurnace products into the lovver side of a chamber then from the upperside of the chamber into an inclined conduit and introducing a stream ofair into the conduit in the direction of the products wherebyquicksilver vapor is condensed and precipitated.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at San Francisco,California, this 20th day of November, 1917.

HENRY W. GOULD.

In presence of- H. G. PROST.

